POSTGAME NOTES: Giants are the ones that keep pressure on; Posey finds a new fan

There was a sense of urgency in the air tonight, but only on one side of the field. One team got going with an infield single, and had a few hustle plays in the infield to get force outs. The other team held its best pitcher out of the lineup for the season’s biggest game.

One team had a guy hustle for a triple, another guy draw a rare walk to set up a run-scoring hit, and yet another guy foul off six pitches before hitting a homer. The other team had a cleanup hitter who started walking back to the dugout after taking a close 0-2 pitch, only to step back when he realized it had been called a ball.

There just didn’t seem to be a win-or-go-home attitude with the Dodgers, not before the game or during it. They might tell you otherwise, but you see what you see. When Gregor Blanco doubled, it looked like he may have missed the bag at first. Adrian Gonzalez wouldn’t know, he was looking at the ground. One Dodger in the dugout pointed to the bag, but that was that.

On the other side you had a team with a cushy lead and a dying desire to end this National League West race before these two teams square off again.

“This was a critical game for us to win,” manager Bruce Bochy said, though it was more critical on the other side.
Said Sergio Romo of tonight’s winner, Barry Zito: “He ain’t backing down from those guys.”

The Giants didn’t back down in Los Angeles last month and they kept the pressure on this weekend. They played like the team that came in trailing by 4 1/2 games, and so they now lead by 5 1/2. Romo said they don’t even want the Dodgers to have a hope of winning the division when these two teams face off again, and it looks like it might be heading that way.

“There’s a lot of baseball left,” Zito said, but he added: “We like where we’re at.”

— Buster Posey fouled off six Joe Blanton pitches. Then he homered.

“That’s one of the best at-bats I’ve ever had off of me,” Blanton said. “I threw him at least five put-away pitches, I thought. And he just kept fouling them off. I make one mistake and it’s a homer.”

“With what he’s done for us — here you have a guy who is your catcher and is hitting cleanup and he’s carried us at times,” Bochy said. “I can’t think of a guy more valuable for a club than Buster is for us.”

Zito hinted that he wasn’t happy with Posey’s pitch-calling after their last start together, but there were no complaints tonight.

“We were good to go out there,” Zito said. “It’s good to have a good game with Posey because he’s going to be in there a lot.”

Sounds like a hint about the playoffs. Is Zito thinking that far ahead, about a potential roster spot this time around?

“It’s not good for me to think about anything outside of tomorrow,” he said. “Whatever happens happens. I’ve made my peace with that (2010) experience and I know I’m stronger for it as a man.”

— Pence knows Blanton from Philadelphia, but that’s not what he was thinking about in the first inning. He remembered Blanton busting him inside with fastballs last month, and when he got an inside fastball, he turned it into a two-run double. The hit came after Posey had struck out.

“It’s about picking each other up,” Bochy said. “Those two-out hits win ball games for you. It helps guys relax.”

— The game story has more on Good Zito and a lucky break: Not having to face Kershaw.

— Angel Pagan’s triple in the fifth inning tied him for the Major League lead and moved him one triple shy of tying the San Francisco-era franchise record, held by Willie Mays and Steve Finley. Pagan was 5 for 12 in the series; Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier, Gonzalez and Hanley Ramirez were 5 for 36.

— Xavier Nady said he felt good after swinging the bat a bit today, but added that hitting isn’t really the test. He’ll do some light running tomorrow in Colorado and hopes to come out of that feeling as good as he does right now. Bochy thought that Nady might have been available off the bench tonight, so he’s close.

— Brandon Belt has talked a bit about his desire to one day pitch in a blowout. Twice this week, on the throw to third and then again today on the throw to second, he’s shown that it’ll be very, very interesting if he ever gets on a mound. (Plus you’ll have arms and legs and high socks and arms and legs and high socks and all that.)

— Pence tossed a sixth-inning foul ball to a little kid in a Niners jersey. Best Day Ever for that kid. Niners, eh? Wow…

— Lets close it out with The Committee. Santiago Casilla got Zito out of a jam in the seventh, and Jose Mijares and Guillermo Mota shut it down in the eighth. That’s 19 scoreless appearances in Casilla’s last 21 outings, and big contributions from two guys who aren’t accustomed to pitching in the eighth. Hell, those are two guys who weren’t on the active roster a few weeks ago.

“That’s a crucial part of the game,” Bochy said. “Casilla, what a job he did. I thought what was impressive was the eighth inning. I brought in a couple of guys who haven’t pitched in the eighth inning and they did a good job.”

Javier Lopez and Sergio Romo easily shut it down in the ninth. Bochy said he spends more time with the staff than ever, as they go over every possible late-innings scenario. The staff continues to push the right buttons and the Giants continue to come away with wins.

Foothills Ryan say:
Sunday’s game has already been played. I’m writing from the future. The Giants are 3.5 up and geared up to take it to the Rockies. Dodgers have rough road ahead, we’ll get it back up to 5 with 9 to go.

—

Once you get past the feathers, crow sandwich is good, especially when you hold the Kershaw.

—

Zito just pitched himself back onto the playoff roster. Hunter Pence hit himself out of the doghouse.

Maybe at some point KNBR can eliminate that irritating sound board cut where John Miller says something to the effect the struggles of Barry Zito as a San Francisco Giant continue. Time for that to be deleted.

National Giants fan here. Have read a lot of sports writers over the years. Tonight’s line by the Merc’s Giants beat writer Al Paulson is a classic: “Pagan was five for 12 in the series; Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier, Gonzalez and Hanley Ramirez were 5 for 36.”

Is there such a thing as a technologically challenged Giants Fan? Perhaps not in the Bay area but between me and my antiquated iMac here in the Northwoods of Minnesota, i do need to ask a favor from somebody on the board:

Between my one week short of 68 Y.O. hard-drive, the ca 1997 iMac and current software i’m unable to cut and paste the addressed to Wisdom Cow in the form of a memo to Larry Baer screed i just composed in the Pre-Game blog over to this one. Would be much obliged if someone would do me the favor of a simple application of technological magic. The memo to Baer may be of interest to bloggers who may not have time to check out the back pages of Giants lore.

Lefty @ FIRST!!! Kudos. You won the trifecta, just missing the full quad by one little run which probably didn’t score because on accounta the fact that the team knew they had the Bums beat bad ~ mostly in the head as Yogi would prolly agree. You also win the St. Rosie O’ Grady Keep the Faith, Baby Award, bestowed annually upon that blogger who most constantly and consistently exemplifies the virtues of faithful Giants fandom.

TWC@ 8:57: Memo to Larry Baer. Many companies, corporations, associations et al handsomely remunerate focus groups. On occasion these remunerations are not strictly financial, though may be deemed of significant material value by some measures.

Team sports blogs are informal focus groups. Without remuneration on a direct and steady basis they essentially cannot be bought and sold, based on the probatary assumption that the diversity and the multiplicity of the participants, particularly if not negatively monitored by the sponsor of the blogsite; is of sufficient depth and breadth to ensure internal checks and balances amongst the company of bloggers. A blog such as Giants Extra draws on a sufficiently broad spectrum of Giants fans, both Bay-centric and national as to form an almost ideal focus group which sifts and sorts through ideas and opinions which might not ever arise in a formal, fully remunerated focus group.

Mr Baer: As a man who understands promotions and merchandising from a professional sports franchise perspective; you may wish to consider promotional awards to bloggers on this and similar sites for their valuable open discussions centering on the San Francisco Giants playing their best possible baseball. Such promotional awards as autographed baseballs, team gear, and similar merchandise are most familiar to your experience. Special tickets to Giants games and other organization sponsored events, as well as travel vouchers in certain instances and possibly even lodging in a facility which cooperates with the Giants organization in promotional matters, could serve as Post Season “Thank You” notes to various producers of one of the most valuable sports franchise focus groups in the nation, this blog and others of a similar nature.

-Stickman/Stixwiz, Clearbrook, Minnesota, hometown of the starting catcher for the 1954 World Championship New York Giants, the late Wes Westrum.

As a Giants fan since 1954 i should also like to note that Westrum managed the San Francisco Giants and, if memory serves, the New York Mets and later served for years as a scout for the Atlanta Braves. As a child of ten the presence of my mother’s high school graduation class member as the catcher for the World Champs as well as the presence on that team of the greatest baseball player of all time, who made MVP that season, a man who today is honored by a statue at #24 Willie Mays Plaza, made me a Giants fan for life, a proud member of The City’s national fan base.

Mr Baer: Giants fans care and we come from everywhere. The Giants are bigger than San Francisco. Again, the Giants are a national team ~ as we all know, one of the original 8 teams that constituted the National League, a league of proud tradition. To maintain the pride and to maintain the tradition Giants fans all over the nation are ready to will yet another parade on a bright Autumn day down Market Street of the 2012 model Halloween Machine.

Terrific game Barry. Too bad the goodwill you’ve earned will last only until your next struggle, even if it’s just one bad inning. But you know the drill.

If they make it to the playoffs I’d like to see Zito on the roster unless he implodes the rest of this month, but I think he’ll finish strong. He has had more dominating starts and big wins over tough teams this year than in any of his previous years in SF.

I thought the most prescient moment of the game was Hanley Ramirez walking towards the dugout thinking he just watched strike 3. More than an embarrassment, it was a window exposing the soft center that is the Dodgers character and likely reveals how they will compete in this final stretch.

Expat, bums were in LaLa land tonight. What about when Rivera walked and didn’t know it was ball 4. I think by about the 5th inning the bums already had their sights set on the Arizona and St. Louis series. The bums Kangaroo Court will be divvying out some fines tomorrow, you can be sure of that.

Expat, Hanley doesn’t seem to have, or at least, play with heart. I’m glad Sabean didn’t get him. There is no “team” in LA. No chemistry between the men. The difference when compared to our Giants is quite stark. I love guys with heart and the Giants are loaded with ’em!

I’m optimistic the Giants will do well on the road. That the Dodgers will continue to have trouble with the big three – Reds, Nats and Cards. But then I think, this is Major League Baseball. Kershaw, Hanley, Gonzo, etc… are good players. So if someone lights a fire under the Dodgers it won’t be surprising. Sabean lit up the Giants two years ago. Giants can’t be complacent. They have to play the games vs. Colorado, SD and Ariz with the same urgency they played against LA. As long as the Giants keep winning it does not matter if a fire is lit in LA, they won’t catch us. The first game of the Colorado series will be important. Vogey pitching. Emotional let down? Percursor to giving the Rockies some momentum. Let’s let it all hang out.

You know, its funny…. if you are not lefty, clutch, cc, twc, jd, scooter, or foothills …you are nothing…. just saying…. Foothills predicted a lose… Zito has pitched them awesome!! Even if Kershaw did pitch today the Dodgers didnt score a run? Zito has done this before to the Dodgers this season??? Everyone was so complacent with a loss, I couldnt even post

once again, Bochy makes the same mistake that has burned him nearly every time this season, including costing the team the game yesterday. *He fails to PH for a pitcher near 100 pitches with runners on base only to have to lift the pitcher an out into the next inning after multiple runners or runs have scored*

He lets games manage him, rather than managing game situations. Anybody could reactively manage a baseball team. I mean, cmon man! Wake up! STOP BEING STUPID

@ Rumor Central says:
September 9th, 2012 at 10:23 pm
Only thing that could make this sportign weekend better is if the raiders lose

I hope you slip Monday morning on a banana peel or wet floor (whatever it takes) and fall behind first onto a broomstick handle. Have a nice day.
Signed,
-On behalf of all SF Giants AND Oakland Raiders fans (myself included).

Another thing – Wake up numnuts, not every Giants fan likes or cares about the niners.

back in 1997 when interleague began (I will invariably maintain the team with the best record in interleague play should have home field advantage in the WS, not the league who wins the all star game. An exhibition game, nonetheless) I was with a fellow Seattlelite tailgating between a Giants/Mariners tilt( Bonds vs. Griffey, Jr.) when we began bantering with some of the locals.

When I disclosed I am a lifetime Giants fan from the PNW the
they were thrilled that I had made the pilgrimage (not my first. combined with the fact I attended Bezerkeley I have been to many a gGants game over the course of my adult life).

Then they asked about my NFL affliliation. When I shot down their beloved 40whiners in favor of the Raiders one could feel the atmosphere thicken. A wall built up between the two parties & the locals (even more passive aggressive than a PNWeesterner . .didn’t think that was possible. Ensuing Smug alert. . .)

A while later they trepidatiously approached . They had a bottle of wine but somehow forgot their wine cork.

PNWesterners to the rescue. I brandished my Swiss Army Knife, dutifully prepared like a good Seattelite. . .

They quickly adjourned after we opened their cabernet savignon. . .

So, when you bash Oakland Raider fans or our team just remember; Raider fans don’t give a rat’s arse what y’all do. . .and, win, lose or draw people will invariably talk about the Oakland Raiders. . .

Zito is opening my eyes this season. He has been an excellent 4th starter for us in the rotation. 11-8 record and we have won 7 of his last 9 starts. This team, despite all the obstacles, injuries, down year by their ace, losing their closer, losing their first half MVP and 3 hitter. They have overcome everything and built a 5 1/2 game lead in this division. It is about the sum of all the parts and not about one guy, one individual. Although one individual stands out on both sides and showed this series on why he is the most valuable player on our team and probably in the whole league. Buster Posey. He is most definitely the comeback player of the year and he is in this MVP race, competing against McCutchen who has fell off a little bit in 2nd half and his team is falling and on the outside looking in. Holliday has had a nice campaign but look at the supporting cast and the ballpark he is in. And the Cards are hanging in 2nd place and in 2nd wild card spot but a lot of teams right behind them. Braun team is somewhat in contention and Braun is having another MVP campaign 38 homeruns 100+rbi .300+ avg. But he has that PED behind him even though it was squashed and that suspect test was dropped. So yeah. And Melky well he is done for season and has that PED and 50-game suspension tainting his performance. That leaves Buster Posey as the favorite for the MVP. But yeah, should be a close race.

Great weekend for Giants baseball! Getting to see the Friday and Saturday games in person was a real treat. When I got home tonight – after dealing with arranging for my HVAC guy to come put a bandaid on the suddenly struggling A/C compressor (temps are climbing to 100+ again) – I watched the Sunday game recorded.

TEAM effort. Gotta love the chemistry! Zito pitched a gem. I think everyone got on base or somehow contributed. And what a Buster Bomb! I also like that Blanco’s bat seems to be heating up – having another sparkplug is huge, so I hope he keeps it hot! (He’s gone from .239 for the season to .333 the past 7.)

Winning the series 2-1 is very acceptable. Being up 5.5 with more games to play isn’t a guarantee for a post season slot, but is certainly going to make it tougher for the Dodgers to catch us, and AZ 10.5 back would need some serious magic.

At the risk of siding with Tim McCarver Posey has to have a leg up on the MVP vote due to the fact he plays catcher. . .

The most tasking of the positions it is darn near impossible to weather foul tips, blocking pitches in the dirt & keeping the pitching staff together regardless if one is batting cleanup or not.

I remember not too long ago Johnny Bench admitted he was never close to the hitter he was pre-1972 after having a growth removed from his lung. So one never knows how long one will have donning the “tools of ignorance.”

Perhaps the Giants will lobby for the DH to appear in the NL. However, Posey thrives “in the squat” as his statistics can attest to, & by his admittance. . .

Not quite ready to annoint our beloved Giants as “the Team of Destiny” as I did in 2010 (among others) as I don’t quite have the confidence in the pitching staff. However, they sure are hitting the ball! Especially on the road (road warriors to the WS Championship?)

You must be a Dodgers fan. It will be alright. BEAT LA, BEAT LA…and we did! 2 of 3, I will take anyday. Giants lead the season series between Dodgers 9-6 with 3 games left vs them to close out the season. Time to add on this lead as Dodgers hit the toughest part of their schedule: 2 vs. ARI, 4 vs. Cardinals, 3 vs. Nationals, 3 vs. Reds, still got the Rockies, Padres and us again as well. We got Rockies then D-Backs on the road. Rockies we need to sweep and D-Backs we need some payback on them and just win the series.

Zito with probably his best late season effort as a Giant. Need Vogelsong tonight to get back to it. Glad the team is back on thr road. Better teams in baseball usually win at home and play .500 on the road. The Giants do it in reverse.

I saw the Ramirez AB but I don’t think he was heading to the dugout. The pitch was outside be several inches, it looked like he was just leaning, following the pitch and his slight momentum took him in the direction toward the 1B dugout.

Bochy pushed all the right bullpen buttons but one thing always perplexes me; it is no problem for the lefty starter (I.e. Zito) to face a bunch of right handed batters multiple times (I.e. Ramirez) but God forbid you have a lefty reliever such as Lopez in the when a righty comes up; he has to be removed even when the game is in hand and he is pitching well. It worked out last night but I just don’t understand the logic, unless it’s just the MO of a micro manager.

Nice series. Zito had the right ump. His junk looked the same but he needs an ump that has a wide strike zone and can call curves as strikes. Excellent pitched game, timely hitting and a push of 1 more in the standings.

I do not see nor have the Giants ever gone into a prolonged funk of losses. There worst atretch was a trip through what the Nats, Pirates and Reds?

Much better to win the division than potentially a 1 and done series for the wild card and they are in far better position winning 2 of 3 than losing 2 of 3.

Profs to Zito, if Vogey does not get back on track, Vogey goes to the Pen for the palyoffs at this point.

I believe I saw it misstated that the Dodgers start the AZ series on Tuesday. Nope. They had to fly into AZ last night and have to take on Ian Kennedy, Kershaw or not.

So the divisional lead with round up or down half a game tonight.

Speaking of divisional leads, the Giants have a greater lead over the Dodgers than the Rangers have over the A’s. How did that happen? Can you imagine if the A’s beat out the Rangers in the West ?? That will be the story of the Year and Bob Melvin will be manager of the century.

—

As far as this blog remuneration goes, I have lots of terrific trade ideas. You may think they take hours to pull off in my head but are actually quite effortless and add to my enjoyment. I’ll continue doing them for free, apparently as a service to Mr. Baer and Mr. Sabean. It’s just part of supporting the team. No signed Brandon Belt jersey required.

VmanGiantsfan: I don’t really know what you mean by people being “nothing” on this blog, but if you’ll check my #1 post on this thread, I predicted a Giants WIN and that Zito would pitch well–and I did it before Kershaw was scratched. I just had a good feeling because Zito has really pitched well in big games this year and the Giants have already beaten Kershaw 3 times.

Rumor Central: Mr. Lefty & I are going to our first 49ers game ever on Oct. 7 (vs. Buffalo). The Giants fan we met in Denver in August (who turned out to be my co-worker’s first cousin) actually came through with those 50-yard line tickets! We’re so excited.

JD4SF: I got home from the airport just in time to watch Lopez/Romo pitch the top of the ninth. Then I watched the game highlights on the MLB app. It was fun to hear the ESPN announcers’ comments. When Angel got his triple, they went on and on about his great baserunning and his hustle. Then when Scutaro knocked him in with the sac fly, they said: “And that’s why they’re in first place. They just manufactured a run with hustle.” I immediately thought of you and your comments all season about “smart/small ball.” I knew you’d be a proud Mama Bear! 🙂

I’m very proud of our Giants for stepping up and winning two of three this weekend. The Dodgers did look defeated before the game was into the middle innings, but I think that had more to do with our persistent approach and steady play all weekend. Even the game they won, they know could have (should have) been another loss.

Also, I’m with Stickman big-time: “Lefty wins the ‘St. Rosie O’ Grady Keep the Faith, Baby’ Award, bestowed annually upon that blogger who most constantly and consistently exemplifies the virtues of faithful Giants fandom.” No doubt about that, IMHO.

Also want to thank Stickman and Matthew–two relatively new additions to our group–for informative and astute posts throughout the season.

Six game road trip: let’s go 4-2 and keep the pressure on the Dodgers.

What a game. And some Smell-A Dogger Mercenaries fan had the gall to come on our site and say that they would have won with Kershaw. As was pointed out to him, you can’t win putting up a big fat zero on the scoreboard. Go Giants!

bochy’s platoony tune adventures says:
September 10th, 2012 at 12:07 am
once again, Bochy makes the same mistake that has burned him nearly every time this season, including costing the team the game yesterday. *He fails to PH for a pitcher near 100 pitches with runners on base only to have to lift the pitcher an out into the next inning after multiple runners or runs have scored*

I have to agree with this thinking. When Bochy did not PH for Zito in the bottom of the 6th I was not happy because the Giants had a chance to put the game away with a base hit. Further, it felt like Bochy was pushing his luck asking Barry to continue into the 7th with close to 100 pitches on the clock. Why? We’ve all seen Zito go from cruise control to train wreck in an instant when his pitch count hits 100. The BP is flush with arms now, which should make closing out 3 innings much easier.

The same non-move likely cost the game on Saturday and immediately resulted in a pressure inning last night. Get your big head in the game Bruce!

Team leader coming off a career threatening injury? No problem.
No closer? No problem.
No Melky? No problem.
Ace & two-time CY winner in the worst slump of his career? No problem.
Dodgers acquire half the Boston roster?
No problem.

He already led the Giants to their first west coast title, so in my book, all of the above are just icing on the cake.

Before the weekend I really felt the Giants had to win 1 of the 3. To win 2 is gravy. The Dodgers have a far more difficult schedule. Giants need to make sure they don’t let up and stay above 3 games ahead to make that final series meaningless (at least for the Giants). Bonus would be to knock the Dodgers out of the Wild Card the final day.

I understand the angst over Boch not pinch hitting for Zito in the 6th. Two things: 1st the Dodgers wanted Zito out and were trying to force the Giants hand by walking Crawford. 2nd, Bochy does this for pitchers who have earned it. Maybe it doesn’t always make baseball sense at the time, but I think it gives a shot of confidence to the SP for the long run. We are going to need Zito down the stretch.

Papa J: That was a GREAT post, and when you list it like that, wow, that IS impressive. I’d add a couple more to your list: Pablo Sandoval on the DL twice and never really getting it going: No problem. Aubrey Huff basically missing in action: No problem. Freddy Sanchez literally missing in action: No problem.

Before this season started, if you had told us that Lincecum would be the worst pitcher in the majors the first half and would finish the season well under .500 and that Sandoval might not even hit 10 home runs and would miss over 50 games on the DL, would you think the Giants would be 5 1/2 games ahead with 22 to play? (I don’t put losing Wilson and Melky in quite the same category because Wilson’s health was suspect all along and we didn’t really know what we’d get from Melky when we traded for him.)

Also, I think Bochy’s at his best this time of year. For example, he took a bit of a risk yesterday bringing in his hottest reliever (Casilla) in the 7th, because that left you wondering who would handle the 8th, assuming that Romo/Lopez would be saved for the 9th. But the 7th is when they needed Casilla because Zito left two runners on. As has been said before, the save opportunity is not always in the 9th inning. And it all worked out beautifully, and Mijares/Mota did great in the 8th.

When you think about it, Bochy SHOULD be in there for Manager of the Year consideration. No one was picking the Giants to win the West–everyone just handed it to the Diamondbacks. Who else? The manager of the Nats? Yes, maybe–but I don’t think it’s any kind of a surprise that the Nats are good this year. Same with the Reds. Maybe the Pirates’ manager, but they’ve faded pretty badly. The Cardinals, Diamondbacks, Phillies, Dodgers, and Brewers have underachieved.

In fact, if there were an anti-MOY award, I’d make it a tie between Kirk Gibson and Don Mattingly. Both teams are much better on paper than they are on the field. Gibson seems to have trouble getting along with the players. As for Mattingly, the Dodgers had a hot start (30-13 on May 23) and have been well under .500 since. Honorable mention to Charlie Manuel of the Phillies, who have gone from 102 wins to irrelevant, but he has a lot more excuses with injuries than Gibson or Mattingly do.

First, I was reading the thread prior to yesterday, and was going to give HUGE kudos to Lefty, but she beat me to it… I only wish you would have gone third person… “Lefty knows ball!”

Second, I’m still disappointed in many of you for your bandwagon bashing of Blanco. Two guys went down looking in the first in nearly impossible conditions: Posey and Blanco. Posey rightly gets a pass. Blanco? Many ripping him mercilessly. Please, give it a rest. And , at least give Christ for a flawless left field job in very tough conditions.

The crowd was on fire, and it was cool to be part of it. When we heard of the Kershaw scratch, the mood in the bar changed dramatically, and Doyer fans seemed resigned…as did the Doyers themselves in the game. Our boys looked sharp, professional, methodical. LA, to me at least, looked lethargic, uninspired. Big props to Zito. Big.

The focus and understanding of the task at hand with the boys and management give me trust that they will not have any stretches of brainless efforts… We will lose some, but it sure feels like the roll is underway.

Not sure I understand Mattingly’s move with Kershaw. I’m not convinced that he was so hurt that he needed to be scratched, especially if he goes Tuesday. Seems like a concession move, and I can’t imagine it played well in the clubhouse….what does everyone here think? Maybe you covered it earlier, but it felt like a very big deal.

PerSpeier35 says:
September 10th, 2012 at 6:00 am
Bochy pushed all the right bullpen buttons but one thing always perplexes me; it is no problem for the lefty starter (I.e. Zito) to face a bunch of right handed batters multiple times (I.e. Ramirez) but God forbid you have a lefty reliever such as Lopez in the when a righty comes up; he has to be removed even when the game is in hand and he is pitching well. It worked out last night but I just don’t understand the logic, unless it’s just the MO of a micro manager.
————–
This is Lopez line facing righties in 47 AB’s this season:

Zito is still a mystery to me. How can he be so good one day and so bad the next?

Beating the Dodgers any day is a good day and it used to be that if you were a starting pitcher for the Giants and you beat the Dodgers we didn’t care what you did after that. Well, after the World Series Win that has changed. We want it all so every one has to step it up. GO GIANTS!!!!

What makes our late season surge even more remarkable is that we are doing it without Melky (who was a legitimate contender for MVP), without Wilson (arguably the NL’s best closer), and without a LF or SS hitting at the NL average levels. Tip of the hat to Sabean for going out and finding Scutaro and Pence, for sticking with Sanchez/Belt/Crawford, and to Bochy for weaving them all together into a TEAM, and getting them to pull together in unison.

Matthew: I agree–scratching Kershaw was an odd move, given that he felt good to go and did NOT have a hernia, per the MRI. I get that it sets up the rotation for the end of the season, but that’s still three weeks off. You can juggle the rotation later.

Last night was a potentially huge swing game. If Kershaw pitches and wins, the Dodgers take a home series from the Giants and are only 3 1/2 back. Plus it would have ended a tough NL West homestand with a 2-4 record for the Giants. I know the schedule still favors the Giants either way, but you still have to play the games.

You can’t even assume the Dodgers would have been shut out with or without Kershaw. Zito is, as his record proves, an excellent front runner. It was huge that they got a couple runs for him in the first inning–and do we think they would have done so quite as easily with Kershaw pitching rather than Blanton? If the Giants don’t get that early lead, who knows how it might have affected Zito/the outcome?

Anyway, it seems strange to me that Mattingly basically pulled the plug on his best chance to win what seemed like an important game.

It’s funny: Kemp and Kershaw, the home grown guys–they’re the real deal, the team leaders. The imports, not so much. Hanley’s AB in the 8th was a real head-scratcher/eye-opener. Who walks away from the plate BEFORE the ump calls strike 3? He’d given up on the AB or wasn’t focusing. Not to mention his terrible base running on Saturday.

As for AGone, he seems like a good person and he’s a fine player, but name me the last postseason appearance he’s made. That’s right: zero. I know it’s not all on him (he played on some woeful Padres teams), but he doesn’t seem to inspire or lead his teams, either. That’s a lot of money and years for someone who’s on the wrong side of 30 and is a solid but not spectacular player. Ethier (who’d been slumping and can’t hit lefties well) has been more clutch than AGone has.

Zito pitched terrifically, but the Dodgers looked disinterested in the game. Kershaw not taking the ball definitively had an effect on them. If his injury was real, then their chances of postseason have taken another hit. If his injury was questionable and he was held back in order to focus on the WC, then management basically told the players they weren’t good enough to win last night. Either way, the Dodgers are done.

Everyone is talking about what a break we caught when Kershaw, last year’s Cy winner, was scratched from yesterday’s game; but no one seems aware that this was only 50% of the break we caught. Overlooked was the additional scratch of Kemp, last year’s runner-up for MVP, from LA’s sputtering lineup. Anyone recall just how lifeless our lineup was when Posey wasn’t in it?

Agreed on the Bochy for NL Manager of the Year momentum.
Giants are in first by 5.5 games without their World Series closing closer, without their All Star LF for 50 games, with the best Catcher in the League but coming back from a devastating injury (so the frequent starts at 1B), with their 2 time Cy Young winner utterly stinking the entire first half of the season, and with a lineup that is last in all of MLB in hitting HRs.

And kudos to Sabean – acquring Scoots, and Pence, and Mijares, and working in Nady, Arias, Belt, and having the guts to go with Hector Sanchez as the backup Catcher even though he is a rookie. Well done!

I definitely agree with the notion that once Kershaw was scratched, it poked a hole in the Dodgers balloon and puffed some air into the Giants. Especially when those 2 runs crossed the plate for the Giants – Zito’s record indicates he knows how to pitch with a lead. It’s the nibbling that gets him in trouble.

Definite playoff auditions between Zito and Vogelsong going down the stretch. Vogelsong would come out of the pen better.

Barry Zito by FIP over the SF years

2007: 4.82
2008: 4.72
2009: 4.31
2010: 4.25
2011: 5.60
2012: 4.74

His 2002 CY season was 3.87

Zito just seems to get the job done when you least expect him to. Like how about the playoffs this year?

Rox drop doubleheader Sunday in Philly. Late, late flight home. Baseball is funny. We all know on paper who the “fresher” team is, should be but guyz like Rutledge are hungry. Gmen still need to block stuff out and “play against the game” not against the opponent. Professional Pride causes teams like the Stros to beat the Reds. The Fish beat the Nats, the Royals beat the Wsox etc.

Prediction. You saw it here first. Giants will finish with the best record in the NL. Nats will implode with the handling of Stras. 22 games left. They go 8-14 vs. NY, Atl, LA, Milw, Phi, SL. Reds go 10-11 with games vs. Pitt (6), Mia, Chi, LA, Milw. Giants have the best schedule. 17-5 vs. Col (7), AZ (6), LA, SD (6). Schedule, momentum, intangibles such as injuries favor the Giants. 96 wins. 94 each for the Reds and Nats.

Hate to see this board infested with Raiders fans. Especially the ones that call other G’s fans “haters”. Haha…whats there to hate? The Raiders are too easily forgettable. C’mon guys, even Matt Kemp knows what team to root for.

KNBR was discussing the MVP race with Kruk this am. Andrew McCutchen’s name was mentioned, as was Ryan Braun.

I was glad they all admitted biasness towards Buster, but they overlooked something…Braun will not win this year.

Regardless of the numbers he puts up, Ryan Braun will not win the MVO because he failed a drug test last year (with similar numbers) and got off on a technicality. Baseball writers will not only doubt his 2012 numbers because of PEDs, I think they’ll also punish him for winning last year’s award…and then failing a test (and never really proving innocense).

You add this to Buster’s very nice national broadcast showing on SAT and SUN… in addition to them leading the NL West…and I would say he’s now the front runner.

One of the first times I read an “analysis” of baseball stats – way back in the ’70’s – when the writer was accounting for division-winners (as compared to the entire league straight-up – from ’68 and earlier) made this point: A team that losses less than 70 times has a good chance to make the play-offs.

If it was true then, it certainly is now. (By the way, win four out of seven all season long, for 162 games = 93-69.) Anyway, as most of you already know, the 2000 Giants finished with the best-regular season record, but it didn’t help them in the play-offs vs. Mets. (And a Yankeee team that won fewer than 90 regular season games took them in the Series.) Then, a few seasons later, in 2003, the Giants won 100 games. Marlins won the play-off series. Of course, go back to ’93 (no wild card to save us) Giants won 103, but season was over. On the other hand, since division play started, the pennant winners the Giants have had have won 92 games (’89), 95 games (’02) and, of course, as you already know, the 2010 WS champs won 92 games.
‘

The point is this: big regular season win totals are a lot of fun, but in this era in general, and for the Giants in particular, high regular season win totals haven’t resulted in WS championships.

That said, sure, I’d like best regular season record and a World Series championship, but, as we already know, the 2010 team is going to be more remembered than the 2000 team.

Happy Birthday, TF62! But you got married on your birthday? I guess that’s one way to make sure you never forget the date!
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In the spirit of full disclosure: we were a blind date on my birthday 30 years ago, and we have been together ever since that night. True story. We decided long ago to call THAT day our “anniversary”. I am truly blessed.

Angry Dan: thanks for the data on Buster’s HR. I called it last night, mainly because Buster was due and Blanton was tiring. That being said, Blanton battled and Buster fought him like an elite hitter does…and went yard to cement the win. Loved Blanton’s “tip of the cap” comments in Alex’s post above. Good stuff.

The Giants had a chance to win every game on the homestand and they were all good well fought games, very exciting to watch.

I think the difference in this homestand was the Giants were willing and did play some little ball. LIttle ball may not be as macho as hitting home runs but in ATT that is the way this team needs to play to win.

The next 2 series are in Colorado and Arizona which are hitters ball parks. The Giants will need to play a different style of ball in those parks and forget that their lead is now 5.5 games. Keep the pressure up and continue to win. With the schedules the way they are, the Giants should be able to easily match the Dodgers the next 2.5 weeks so they should be in good shape when they go on the road for the last 6 games of the season. After a tough hard fought homestand, now is not the time to take a break.

-Predictions are fun to read about however they can also be humbling
as VamosGigantes has stated. I also rememeber a Lou Pinella skippered team that won 116 games but was bounced in round two. The Phillies won 97 games in 2010 and went 102-60 in 2011 and were UP 9 to 13 games from game 139 to game 162.

-That said (imho) the G’s only need to follow the ’10 formula and “get into” post season, however since I STILL feel there is a cumulative innings pitched hangover from 2010 to now, I agree that it would be nice to have a buffer so as to give some of their hurlers a day or two.

I don’t want the Giants to have the best record this year. Because of the added wild card team for this year they will go to the 2-3 format in the divisional series rather than the 2-2-1. In a five game series winning game 1 is crucial. Even with the recent struggles at home, I’d rather see the Giants play the first two at AT&T. Not worried because I don’t think the Giants will have the best record anyway.

The Reds at home for the first two would be my choice. I’d rather see them than the Nationals, but I am getting ahead of myself. Lot of baseball to be played. Hope they can stay focused.

Blanton stated: “That’s one of the best at-bats I’ve ever had off of me,” “I threw him at least five PUT-AWAU pitches, and he just kept fouling them off. I make one mistake and it’s a homer.”

– As Pacman already stated Plus+++. Blanton’s quote above is what separates average-good-above-good hitters and then (the) “Busters”. A pitcher will usually slump his mental shoulders when a hitter keeps fouling balls back … and when Blanton made a location mistake … there was Gerald to take advantage of it.

Buster’s legend will flourish and someday when he goes into certain ball yards in SF’s own division – fans there (where-ever that may be) will entertain Buster with choruses of “Gerald” “Gerald” “Gerald” “Gerald” similar to the NYMets fans chanting Larry Larry Larry at Chipper

TF62, that’s similar to mine. My wife and I had our first “date” on the first Giant-Dodger game of the summer of 1994 (not their first series in SF, but the first one after summer officially started, so we count that game as our anniversary, meaning it changes dates every year, kinda like Easter.

Zito has had a great year considering his tenure in a Giant uniform. Still not up to snuff considering his paycheck.

With that said, Zito is still Zito. At any moment he blows up and loses control of the game. That is Ok for a 5th starter, which he has been regulated too. However, if the Giants or us fans are even thinking about starting him in the playoffs we are all smokin whatever is in Timmy’s glove box!

Unless Vogelsong goes in to the toilet (which I do not see happening) Zito should be left OFF the playoff roster again. He is no bullpen guy and every team you play in the post-season can hit. No room for him after Tim, Cain, MadBum & Vogey pitch in a series!!!

Perhaps there are some teams you do leave Zito off the playoff roster for. Perhaps you pencil him in as the #4 starter vs. the Braves or the Dodgers but not the Reds, Nats or Cardinals . I don’t know about the Pirates, they’ve got to take care of their own business for now.

We shall see…

I do know Vogelsong would look a heck of a lot better coming out of the pen than Zeets.

Vogey is really regressing. He keeps saying he feels fine but all I know is that opposing hitters are barreling up a lot of Vogey pitches. This month long series of ugly starts is not due to a funny bounce here or flare there. Vogey’s gettign whiplash watching his pitches beign scroched all over the yard. Get it back Vogey – 4+ER in 3 IP orl ess is garbage and will get you left off the postseason roster is this continues.

channelclemente says: September 10th, 2012 at 12:15 pm 115..Seems everybody is trying to learn something from Posey’s AB against Blanton.

++++++ Kudos ++++++++ THAT is what it’s all about with two strikes. “Get rid of” pitchers ‘out pitches’ that you cannot handle until HE makes the location mistake.

mitchvman says: “…I’m sorry – Still not up to snuff considering his paycheck…Zito should be left OFF the playoff roster again….”

—Couple of things: Doubtful that fans should (but we do) equate field performance with the salary that they were given by management. The professional sports environment or Entertainment Field is loaded with examples (Jason Schmidt comes to mind)

—Re: Zito being left off roster issue. Regardless that it takes #75 – 45 minutes to get loose in the bull pen – San Francisco’s Management Team (whoever that consists of) has probably already made ‘peace’ with their own hypothetical playoff roster decision. The way he conducted himself in 2010 and his spotty yet gutty performance here in 2012 almost assures that SF’s decision makers will include him this time around. Perhaps they were ‘hoping’ that he would not acquit himself as such but for example if there are/is relievers NOW in the pen who have been up and down from Fresno all year OR have been recent call ups – Zito is going to prevail over that example EVEN IF on paper it seems like the wrong move.

Of course his next four starts could enter INTO the decision, but somewhere Giants management is leaning towards 75 being on the roster.

Also it goes without question that the Melky decision – Yes/No, Right or Wrong has been LONG discussed and THEY, not US already know the decision.

…and remember one of those Horrible starts was the one where Scuturo, Sandoval, etc could not play defense to save their lives. Even though none of those 8 runs were charged errors. Yet 5 of them were based on errors!

The payroll analogy was just that. Just saying he has been paid like an ace not a 5th starter.

I also disagree with your assessment on why he should be on the roster. This is the playoffs not a Tea & Cookies at Grandma’s house. A fifth starter is rarely (ever) put on a roster…and that is due to his ability to pitch an inning here or there with “gas”, not because he was a good soldier 2 years ago (when he did NOT deserve to be on the roster then either)

The bullpen is mostly set with Mota the long man! As you pointed out Zito’s 45 minute warmup routine does not fly in the bullpen and his 84mph does not either.

As much as I hate it, Bochy and Sabean will have Clay Hensley on the roster before Zito, all things being equal. For what Zito beings and his status as “5th” starter. He just is not needed! Especially the first round when bullpen arms are at a premium. Perhaps the World Series but I really do not see that either!

Really minor and picayune complaint… One of the best spontaneous moments ever was game 2 of the World Series, when we all sang along to ” Lights” as an SF anthem. The crowd sang it’s lungs out.

Then, the teams marketing department decides to make it an every game occurrence -error number one – and post the words on the scoreboard -error number two. Recreating spontaneity and force feeding fans reeks of desperation, and tarnishes the moment.

It’s as bad as those stupid pronouncements on the scoreboard “Make Some Noise!”… If the fans are too stupid to understand the situation and make noise on their own, shame on them.

I love the park, the setting, the team… But it is becoming way too “slick”

Part of the Good and Bad Bochy is that his defiant ways of managing men (36 of them currently) prove to over paid and quite often ego-based ball players – that he (Bochy) is gonna stick by his own measuring stick of giving rope, even if it is too much, to his veteran guys.

He allowed Cain to bat and it did not work out. He allowed Zito to start the 7th and it worked out. Had some RELIEVER out of the pen started the 7th fresh – and imploded – many here would have stated thay he should have left him in.

In any season there are games that the good guys win that the opposition thought they had wrapped up and in any season there are games lost by the good guys that they never should have lost. Every game usually has turning points +++ there are professionals in the other dugout that cannot be discounted even if they’ve been deemed AAAA, horrible, Scoundrels or not very good. The ball bounces funny sometimes.

Having said that, on Cains wild pitch and cover of home on Saturday, that could have ended up UGLY as there was almost a bad collision with Matt’s lower body bent to smithereens.

They rotate “Lights” with “Don’t Stop Believing” as sing a longs, and they start at the beginning of Don’t Stop, which is pretty weird and depressing to be sung at the park….if they insist on singing it, why not start closer to the refrain?? Or, as you say, pass on the pre packaged sing a long!!

@Matthew: Have seen it coming since about year four. Check the on deck circles on TV where Bubba is waving to his Sally sitting at home while on his cell phone.

Club View Food court is swell and all, but I’m NEVER eating food at PacBell INSIDE while the game is actually going on the field (WTH)

Matthew everything is becoming as you stated. The Stick carried over about 7-22 thousand actual hard core fans and the other 20K fans have been Baer’s marketing invention – Similar to those “fans” who surround the outside post game of Papa-Bip and Urban. Those decked out “fans” never even were inside the game. (some but doubtful) That freakish scene has now gotten so rowdy that hired Security is now present inside the ropes.

Lefty- big thanks for the note on Fellowship Day 2012…I thoroughly enjoyed the posts on YouTube, and it reinforces my thoughts of this group of fine young men. What a humble bunch of guys with proper perspectives.
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+++ My sentiments exactly. Thanks (from me as well) to Lefty for the heads up. Good to know you enjoyed it, Matthew.

Jeremy Affeldt will seamlessly transition into his Christian motivational speaker immediately after his MLB career comes to a close.

In terms of ERA and Batting average allowed, he has performed better than Matt Cain.
Lincecum has improved over the first half while Cain has perfomed slightly worse.

Bumgarner is having the best second half of them all. He has lowered his ERA, batting average and OBP

Vogelsong and Zito are a toss up.
Zito has had very good starts mixed with very bad starts.
Vogelsong hit a wall he has flat out stunk over the last month or so since his qulity start streak was broken

Vogelson has performed worse as of late with a 9+ ERA last 2 starts and 7.71 over the last 5.
He has allowed an astounding 400 BA with a 432OBP over the last 2 games.
Vogelsongs second half numbers are up from 221 to 281 for BA and the OBP is pushing 345

Zito has faired little better at a 4.61 ERA over 3 games and a 321BA with a 350OBP.
His second half era is 4.84 and BA up to 271 with a slightly improved OBP of 322
In essence Zito is pounding the zone more and walking less batters but the end result is more runs scored.

pacman68 says: September 10th, 2012 at 1:24 pm 133..Zito should not be on any playoff roster. I love you Zito but no thanks.

Pac: Better acumulate a few TV’s for inventory as I think you are going to be disappointed because the Giants Brass as we know them will not reward a Machi, Petit, Otero, Penny and one or two others in order to boot somebody off the roster who will have logged 180 innings +.

If he helps them get there, it’s not about Tea and Cookies, it’s about SF handling their business the same way apparently.

Again, I don’t agree with everything they do or that we wish for here. His last 3-5 starts could easily help their decision as also the SHORT FIVE game beginning round…

You guys just don’t get it. You don’t pull a starting pitcher in the sixth or even seventh for a hitter when he has pitched beautifully and has a shutout going. It doesn’t matter if it’s Cain or Zito. The Team Ethos requires that you treat your guys similarly under similar circumstances. If you pull him there, you piss off that starter and all the starting pitchers on your team. The pitch count doesn’t matter unless its so high you endanger his arm–and one thing about Zito, he can pitch all night without injuring his arm. You just don’t do it.

I don’t know if Zito should make the post season roster or not, but I do know one thing, many of the folks saying that he shouldn’t be on the post season roster are the same ones back in March that were clamoring for Oswalt and Liriano. You know who you are. 🙂

I was sitting behind home plate last night and Zito was locating his breaking balls brilliantly. He backdoored pitches onto the outside corner to righties (ie, Ramirez) and then busted balls breaking into their hands on the next pitch. Really, a brilliant pitching game by a guy hitting @ 84-85 on his fastball.

The reason Bochy didn’t PH for Zito was two fold: he was pitching well and Ethier, who he owns, was due up to lead off the 7th. Turns out Ethier bushwacked him by jumping on the first “get it in” curve ball, but normally you’d want Zito to face Ethier. I would have let Zito bat but would have had a right handed reliever ready in case Ethier reached. Luckily he got Rivera to ground out and the battle with Ellis lasted long enough for Casilla to get ready.

Pence with a big hit, Pablo with a walk. What next? Zito on the playoff roster? I like the team’s seven-start winning streak when Z pitches, and I remember that the only game I have attended so far this season was the game BEFORE that! The one Zito listlessly gave up a TON of runs to the Mets, Melky played a first-inning fly off his glove, and our gang lost, 9-1.

Pence still doesn’t look very good — though I am very thankful for his HUGE hit last night!! Does anyone out there see that he’s getting close to being a .280 line drive hitter? I just wanna believe.

Also, is there any serious thought within the organization to moving Sandoval out of the #3 hole. As much as we have discussed the responsibilities of hitting second on this board, we cannot simply turn our heads while Pablo continues to eschew all plate discipline and mess up the line right before Posey gets up.

I thought the Armenian gentleman did a GREAT job Saturday. He made very pleasant baseball conversation with McCarver, I thought. Seemed like two baseball fans talking their way through a game, and I really like that. It didn’t hurt that the game itself moved along at a great pace.

Still wish Sanchez’s line drive would have missed the 3Bman’s glove and driven in the tying run.